How About Them Giants!

A reader of demondope recently wrote me as follows:

I was talking with a friend at work who I’m getting to know and professes 
to be a Christian. He surprised me recently with a viewpoint on the 
Nephilim – that they were half-human, half-demon beings that lived on the 
earth in the BC. I looked up the Genesis passages in a variety of 
translations and could see it possibly in this way, but I lean toward the 
idea that they were some sons of men as wickedness was growing in the 
earth. Anyway, I thought I’d send you an email since this raises questions 
related to your blog.

Foremost in my mind, I wonder if it’d be within the the realm of 
possibility for demons to have sexual relationships with humans, forced or 
not. I don’t remember ever seeing this anywhere else happening in the 
Bible, though certainly it does seem like demons can have a physical 
interaction with our world. Also, I wonder about what these beings would 
actually “be” if they were half-breeds. It seems less likely to me that God 
would allow strange new beings to be created.

He’s not the first to be puzzled by the passage. And he’s right. This is a valid question to take up on Demondope. So let’s take a look at Genesis 6:4:

What the Bible says

“The Nephilim [KJV "giants"] were on the earth in those days–and also afterward–when the Sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renoun.”

But what does it mean?

One possibility is that “Sons of God” here refers to godly humans who had sex with women of an “ungodly” branch of humanity. There are a couple of obvious problems with this interpretation. The first is that there really wasn’t any “godly” line of human beings. All were sinners, inheriting a sin nature from Adam and Eve. This is made even more relevant by the next verse’s characterization of the whole human race: man’s wickedness had become so great that “every inclination of the thoughts of his [man's] heart was only evil continually.” The second problem is, Why would such a union create Nephilim …men of such unusual strength that they are characterized as “the heroes of old, men of renoun”?

The other possiblity that has been suggested is that “Son’s of God” here refers to fallen angels [demons] who mated with human women and produced some sort of half-breed who’se unusual size and strength that set them apart from normal humans. The problem here is exactly the one stated by my correspondent: is it within the realm of possibility for demons to have sexual relationships with humans? Besides, doesn’t Matthew 20:22 infer that angels (and demons are fallen angels) are sexless?

Sons of God

To determine which is more likely we first have to understand the phrase “sons of God.” In Hebrew idiom “sons of” refers to a class of persons. When the Bible speaks of “sons of the prophets” it means “those who are classified as prophets.” “Sons of men” thus are “human beings”. When Jesus spoke of himself as “the Son of Man” he was not only identifying himself with a figure prophecied in the writings of Daniel, but was also identifying himself as a true human being. Understanding this idomatic use, we are positive that “daughters of men” in 6:4 is a reference to human women. But what does “sons of God” mean?

It’s true that in a few passages at least the phrase “sons of God” refers to humans who have a covenant relationship with God (Deut. 14:1, 32:5, Psalm 73:15, Hos 1:10), even though the Hebrew is slightly different from that in Gen. 6:4. But it is also true that the phrase “sons of God” (bene ‘elohim) refers to angels (Job 1:6,2:1,Psalm 39:1,89:6). In this the class refered to is that of “supernatural beings.”

So the use of “sons of God” does not give us a definitive answer to our question, although I think there is a greater likihood that the phrase refers to fallen angels. If this is the case, we might translated Genesis 6:4,

“There were Nephilim on the earth in those days–and also afterward–produced when supernatural beings had children with human women. (Nephilim were the heroes of old, men of renoun.)”

But is there any biblical evidence?

Actually, there are several lines of biblical evidence that support this translation. There is evidence within the text itself, and supporting evidence in the Old and New Testaments.

   Evidence within the text. The offspring produced by the union are described as Nephilim, “the heroes of old.” While the exact meaning of “Nephilim” is unknown, its clear that they are a distinct class of persons notable for heroic deeds. The union of the supernatural beings with human women did not produce normal humans, but something obviously different. This fact alone, along with the fact that the mating takes place between the “sons of God” and “human women” [never "the sons of men"] is significant.

        Other evidence In the Old Testament. Nephilim reappear in Scripture at the time of the conquest of Canaan. This is long after the Genesis Flood, when any human line that might have produced Nephilim has been wiped out. However, the supernatural beings Genesis may refer to were not affected by the Flood. If fallen angels now and then mated with human women their offspring would still be Nephelim. The chances are that Goliath, some 9 feet tall and immensely strong, may have been a Nephelim.

   Evidence in the New Testament.  It;s the New Testament that provides the strongest evidence for the idea that the Sons of God in Genesis 6:4 were fallen angels. 2 Peter 2:4-5 and Jude 6,7 describe the sin of a group of angels that, unlike other demons, are currently bound and awaiting judgment. These angels are linked with the sexual perversion of Sodom and Gomorrah (ie, unnatural sex), and the texts closely connet the sin spoken of with the time of the Flood. Here are the two passages.

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to Tartarus, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held fast for judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people . . . if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly . . . if this so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment” (2 Peter).

And, also on the theme of judgment . . .

“And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home–these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the Great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themsleves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punsihment of eternal fire (Jude)

Putting it together

Each of the two New Testament passages warns against false teachers and speaks of their coming judgment. Each passage also characterizes their lifestyle and teaching as marked by greed and sexual immorality. In this context the writers look back and select examples to demonstrate the certainty of the coming judgment. And in each passage Peter and Jude speak of certain fallen angels [not all fallen angels, for demons are present and active in our world today]) who are currently “bound” and “held fast for judgment.” Jude describes these angels as those who “abandoned their home.” and both writers refer to Sodom and Gomorrah, associating these fallen agnels to “sexual immorality and perversion.” Peter associates these fallen angles with the time when “he brought the flood on its ungodly people.”

These passages fit too well with Genesis 6:4 to be coincidental. The picture they paint is of certain supernatural beings who left their own realm to engage in sexual immorality, and were subsequently imprisioned, isolated from their own kind and kept from repeating their sin while awaiting judgment for their unique perversion.

When you read The Day of the Others, the second of my Invisible War series, you’ll find a major section titled “Nephelim,” which fictionalizes these events. In this section the Creator assigns searcher angels to find and capture the guilty demons and chain them up until the judgment. Is this what really happened? There seems to me to be compelling grounds to believe so. And to conclude that the “Sons of God” in Genesis 6:4 truly are “supernatural beings” who mated with human women and produced “the heroes of old, men of renoun.”

But . . . what about Matthew 22:30)?

That text simply says that the angels do not marry nor are given in marraige. This doesn’t necessarily mean that angels are without gender. And in fact, whenever angels do appear to human beings they’re described as “men.” There is no reference in Scripture to any good or evil angel appearing as a woman.

One more thing

It’s fascinating that throughout the Greek and Roman mythology–as well as the mythologies of other peoples–contain many stories of gods or goddesses who mate with humans and produce unusual offspring. Folk heroes like Hercules are cast as the offspring of supernatural beings. Given the universality of such stories they add credibility to the origin of Nephelim through such a union. The fact that there are not more of such stories seems to me to be the result of decisive action by God and his angles to imprision the offending demons and keep them from further violation of the boundaries God has established between the visible and invisible unverse.

Just Published!

I jut received copies of my newest book, The Life of Moses. It’s part of the “Smart Guide to the Bible” series, of which I’m also the general editor. I was looking it over today, and I have to say it’s a really good book. It not only looks at Moses the man, with a view to being mentored by his personal experiences with God. It also provides a unique understanding of the first five books of the Bible.

If you’ve ever had questions about Mosaic Law vs Grace, here’s where you find the answers. Or wondered how God could tell the Israelites to exterminate the people of Canaan. I especially like a chapter called The Real “Great Society,” which explores how the God’s people were to deal with poverty (the social justice system) ond crime (the criminal justice system). Actually, there’s too much here to even try to review.

At any rate, if you really want to understand the first five books of the Old Testament, I recommend The Life of Moses (by Larry Richards, Ph.D.). Anyhow, that’s how the book is listed on Amazon, and for only $11.69. It’s a real bargain. And if you like it–which you will–you can write a five star review to post on Amazon.

Thanks

Taking on the Devil

Pope Benedict XVI has ordered an itiative that Fr. Gabriele Amorth describes as “fighting the Devil head on.” Fr Amorth, known as the Vatican’s “exorcist-in-chief,” reports that the Pope has ordered the establishment of exorcism squads by bishops to combat the increased interest in the occult throughout the world. Each diocese is to have a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession. Currently few have any properly trained exorcists.”Thankfully,” Fr. Amorth says, “Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil.” So the Pope wants exorcism squads in every parish.  Father Paolo Scaraboni, who lectures in the Vatican’s exorcism course, believes that interest in Satanism and the occult have increased as people lost faith with the church. Scarboni is concerned that young people are exposed to Satanic influence through rock music and the internet, and adds, “We are bombarded by requests for exorcisms.”

The World (3)

The apostle John defines “the world” in terms of “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of hus eyes and the boasting of what he has and does” (1 John 2:15). A little later John reminds us that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 Jn 5:19). Fallen human beings both reflect and are attracted to the values and motives that dominate human cultures. . . values and motives that in the main mirror Satan’s.

But what does it mean that the “whole world is under the control of the evil one”? Satan, while not the source of “the world,” co-opts the world’s value system to blind human beings to the truth and to maintain his contol over our lives.

Freedom

The first and essential step to living “in” the world while not being “of” the world is conversion. The apostle Paul describes the plight of the unsaved in Ephesians 2:1-3. Human beings are born into the world spiritually “dead in transgressions and sins.” In this state people “follow the ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” Paul declares that “all of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and followin its desires and thoughts.”

But Paul is writing to believers who have now been “made alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.” The only way out of the dark kingdom that is reflected in the world system is to be given life by God. Thus Paul notes in Colossians 1:12,13 that in trusting Christ as Savior God has “qualified [us] to share the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kindom of the Son he loves.”

This transfer from Satan’s kingdom to Christ’s kingdom is the basis for the Christians freedom from the world’s dominion, that is, from the world’s power over our lives.

The Kingdom of the Son

In the first century kingship and kingdom were understood more in personal than geographical terms. When the Romans added a province to their Empire the conquored people did not become Romans. They retained their original identity and their responsibility to their own national rulers. Thus a Jew, even though he lived in Rome, was viewed as a citizen of the Jewish kingdom and lived under the laws of the Jews and under the authority of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. The Romans expected disputes between Jews to be settled within the Jewish community and according the Jewish laws and the rulings of Jewish courts. Thus a Jew lived “in” the Roman empire but was not “of” the Roman empire.

Throughout the Roman Empire Gaul’s or Egyptians or whatever were considered citizens of their original land, and were to some extent governed by their own kings or princces and lived according to their own customs and laws.

But imagine what happened when a Jew (like Paul) held Roman citizenship. He was transfered from one kingdom (that of the Jews) to another (the kingdom of Rome) and held all the rights of Roman citizenship. No Jewish court could judge him . . . and when the Jews brought pressure on the Roman governor of Judea to condemn Paul, the Apostle simply appealed to Caesar . . . and was sent to Rome to be tried there by Roman law, where Jewish customs and laws had no standing at all.

This is the significance of our deliverance from Satan’s kingdom to become citizens of the kingdom of the Son God loves. We are no longer under the authority of the old customs and laws or under the authority of rgw world’s old ruler, Satan. We are citizens of a new kingdom, with its own character and ways, and our king is Christ.

Learning a new way of life

I ate lunch in Singapore one time. I was alone and when I finished eating, no waitress came with my check. I was irritated, and decided to see just how long it would take one to show up. I waited and waited. Finally after nearly and hour I gave up, and stood up. Immediately a waitress appeared. As I was paying I remarked on the poor service. The cashier was shocked. In Singapore no waitress would think of intruding on a guest until he signaled he was ready.

I was in a different culture, and I didn’t understand its waysor customs.

In a sense it’s like this when a person becomes a Christian. We move from a kingdom in which our reactions and responses and expectations have been established to a kingdom where expectations and ways of life are to be radically different. And we need to learn how to live as citizen’s of Jesus’ kingdom rather than of the world. 

In Romans 12:2 Paul provides important insight into our new relationship with ”the world.” He writes, “do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” J.B. Phillips in his paraphrase says, “stop letting the world squeeze you into it’s mold.”

This is how “the world” works. We’re surrounded by people whose beliefs and values and hehavior are shaped by those “cravings of sinful man” that John writes of, and there are constant pressures us to continue to pattern ourselves by them. A new Christian may not be “of” the world, but many if not most of the a believer’s attitudes and values have been shaped by the world of which he or she has been a part.  Conversion hardly provides an instant transformation of our values or our perceptions of life.

Last Tuesday a young woman auditioned on American Idol. She had a good voice, and was granted a “gold ticket” to advance to Hollywood. But one of the judges had a word of caution for her. “I sense that you’re too nice to get very far in this business. You have to be mean, you have to be willing to step on your friends to get where you want to go. Can you be that tough?” Elated at her successful audition, the girl smiled broadly. “Oh yes,” she insisted. “Yes, I can.”

The world was at work, squeezing her into its mold. Powerful cravings surging within her respond gladly, and began to shape her perspective on a career in popular music.

That’s the way “the world” works. It appeals to the lust of the eyes and the boasting of what one has and does. And it molds us, keeping us trapped in Satan’s deadly grip.

Transformation, not conformity

The rememedy that Paul presents is simply stated. “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” The word translated “mind” is nous, and in this context should be understood as “perspective,” or “understanding.” As we grow as Christians our challenge is to constantly  reevaluate our beliefs, values, our presuppositions and practices. We’re to come to understand God’s value system, his attitude toward people and things, and we’re to adopt God’s values as our own.

The struggle against worldliness is warfare with our old selves, as we seek to better understand God and what is important to him.

Only in this way can we be transformed, and what is important to God might become what’s truly important to us . . . that our daily lives might reflect his values rather than the world’s.

Warfare with the world is warfare against our old selves, a conflict between the values of the world which have infected our personalities, and the values that God holds dear.
Next post. What differences does it make?

The world (2)

My last post dealt with the nature of “the world” as kosmos,  human society organized by the values and passions of sinful human beings. “The world” that is the enemy of the Christian is not represented in our lists of do[s and don'ts, but in the motives and perspectives that drive our desires and our choices.

In Colossians the Apostle Paul confronts a perversions of Christianity that made a sharp distinction between the material and the spiritual. Known in its developed form as Gnosticism, those who held this belief gravitated to one of two contrary lifestyles. Each lifestyle was rooted in the belief that the material body is intrinsicly evil, and that each human is a spirit trapped in that evil housing. What then could a person do to nurture the life of the spirit and draw closer to God? Focus on the life of the mind, for what the body does is irrelevant.

One branch of this early herecy concluded, let the body indulge itself in all sorts of sins. What happens in the body can't touch the "real" spiritual me. The body is evil, so let it do evil. The other branch concluded that the evil body's desires must be repressed and it's tendencies resisted. Those in the first group launched into a hedonistic lifestyle. Those in the second became ascetics. The apostle Paul critiques this second group's approach to life in Colossians 2:20-23, where he writes,

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belong to it, do you submit to its rules? "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch?" These are all destined to perish with us, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and their involvement of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Like those I mentioned in my last post who carefully stayed away from movies and all the other things on our "don'ts" list--and were proud of not being "worldly"--the Colossians missed the point. Rules and regulations, rather than confronting worldliness,express it. Rather than restraining "sensual indulgence" (here, sinful human desires of any sort), the rules are likely to generate the very spiritual pride and arrogance that are essential elements of the kosmos itself.

Jesus on worldliness 

Early in Matthew's Gospel we have the report of a pivotal teaching by Jesus. The teaching is generally referred to as the "Sermon on the Mount," and is found in Mathew 5-7. This extended teaching is best understood as a statement by the promised King of Scripture of the basic principels of life in his kingdom. These basic principles apply today as Christ's statement of how believers are to live as citizens of his kingdom rather than citizens of this world. As Paul notes in Colossians, we Christians "died with Christ to the basic principles of this world." We are to reorient our lives to live, not by the world's principles, but by those laid down by Jesus.

Jesus begin his teaching on living in his kingdom with a series of "blessed are" statements that must have stunned his listeners. Even reading them today, most are puzzeled. For what Jesus describes dosn't strike us as a way to blessing at all. In fact, it stikes most people as a prescription for failure, a pathway to a miserable life.

Blessed are the poor in spirit . . .
Elessed are those who mourn . . .
Blessed are the meek . . .
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness  . .
Blessed are the merciful . . .
Blessed are the pure in heart . . .
Blessed are the peacemakers . . .
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness . . .

Who wants poverty of spirit, or a life of mourning? Who wants to be meek, to be trampled on by the strong? Who wants to hunger and thirst for anything, for the very image shows a dreadful lack of what we so desire?

But what Jesus is speaking of is a lifestyle organized around values and passions that are the opposite of the values and passions that drive the people of the world. The motives and perspectives that shape a kingdom lifestyle are the opposite of those that shape the kosmos.

The "poor in spirit" recognize their neediness. They don't rely on their gifts or talents oe their wealth, sure they are able to meet life's callenges. In contrast the world values the self-reliant, the self-confident and the competent. The result is that only the poor in spirit rely totally on Christ . . .and as this reliance frees Jesus to work in their lives, experience the kingdom of God.

We can work our way through each of these blessed are statements, and hold them up against the contrary values of the world.

            Jesus says                      The World [kosmos] says

   Blessed are those who          Blessed are the happy, the pleasure seeker,
   mourn                                   the “beauiful people” who “have it all.”

   Blessed are the meek.           Blessed are the powerful, the proud, the
                                                important, the envied.

   Blessed are those who          Blessed are those who are satisfied, who
   hunger for righteousness.    are well adjusted, who lack for nothing.

   Blessed are the merciful.      Blessed are the self-righteous, self-centered,
                                               the self-indulgent, who live a life of luxury.

   Blessed are the pure in         Blessed are the sophisticated, the tolerant,
   heart                                    the “liberated.” the “adult”.

   Blessed are the                     Blessed are the competitive, the agressive,
   peacemakers                        the “winners”

   Blessed are the persecuted  Blessed are the adaptable, the popular,
   because of righeousness.    those able to “fit in.”

A matter of values

Ultimately, “the world” boils down to an issue of values. What do we percieve as important? What shapes our choices? What desires motivate us?

According to Scripture “the whole world lies in the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). The values and perspectives that take root in human cultures are Satan’s values, and because we possess a sin nature those values resonate within us. We are in the world, and by nature we are of the world. And through the world the devil manipulates us and maintains his grip on our lives. No wonder spiritual warfare involves a call to do battle against the world.

And we can do battle. In our next post, we’ll look at keys to victory.

Demons go to college?

In November of 2006 the Jamaica Gleaner reported cases of demon possession at Shortwood Teacher’s College. The newspaper reported students “frothing at the mouth”, speaking in “different languages,” and with a “coarse voice.” One girl was said to be “very strong”. However, a local bishop insisted that while the girls were influenced by demons, they were not actually possessed.

A few days earlier the paper ran a front page story about a woman who was demon-possessed at a Seventh-day Adventist crusade. Local pastors differed on interpretation of the phenomenon.

“The World” (I)

The Apostle John puts it suscinctly in his first epistle.

Do not love the world or anyting in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything that is in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1John 2:15-17).

This passage provides what is probably the best brief definition of “the world” in Scripture. And the “world” isn’t what the people in the little Baptist church in Brooklyn I attended while in the Navy assumed it was. Back then we defined “the world” by activities those who weren’t Christians engaged in. Cultural practices, like going to movies, smoking cigarettes, and drinking. For the young people in our church it was considered worldly to date nonChristians, or to become a cheerleader in highschool. We equated all those things we weren’t supposed to do with “the world,” and we protected ourselves from worldliness by avoiding them. Then we congratualated ourselves on having avoided one of the most serious threats to our Christian walk . . . and were proud of our commitment.

The problem is, of course, that nothing on that list of do’s and don’ts actually represented worldliness. And the pride we felt in  not being wordly surely fit beautifully in that category of “the boasting of what [one] has and does.”

So, what is “the world”?

Various Greek words are translated “world” in the NIV and NASB. Aion, which means”age” is translated “world” in several verses. The word may simply mean “the world” or it may focus on characteristics by which a partiular time is categorized. Of the over a hundred times that aion apears in the NT, the NIV translates it “world” eight times (Lk 16:8; Ro 12:2; 1 Cor 1:20; Eph. 2:2; 6:12; 1 Tim. 6:17; 2 Tim. 4:10; Heb.9:26),
   Ge [pronouncted "Gay"] is the earth–that is, the ground, in contrast to water and sky. Of its approximately 250 occurances in the NT, it is translated “world” only six times (Mk. 9:3; Acts 17;24;Ewc 3:10,13:3; 16:14; 17:8).
   Oikoumene is found 16 times in the NT, probably to be taken in a popular sense as “inhabited earth,” rather than in a political, imperial sense. Oikoumene is translated “world” in all of its occurances (Mt. 24:14; Luk 2:1; 4:5; 21:264; Acts 17:6,31; 19:27; 24:5; Ro. 10:18; Heb 1:5; 2:5; Rev. 3:10; 12:9;16:14).
   The most significant word for “world” is kosmos. It’s original and basic meaning is “order” or “arrangment.” The OT has no word corresponding to this one, which is foujnd nearly two hundred times in the NT. It has a very flexible meaning, indicating, for example, (1) the world (ie, all created things), (2) the arena where human life and experience occur, or (3) humanity itself. As a theooogical term, kosmos portrays human society as a system warped by sin, tormented by beliefs and desires and emotions that surge blindly and concontrollably. The world system is a dark system (Eph. 6:12) operating on basic principles that are not of God (Col.2:20; 1 John 2:16). The entire system lies under the power of Satan (1 John 5:19) and constitutes the kingdom from which believers are delivered by Christ (Col. 1:13-14). It’s basic hostility to God is often displayed (1 Co. 2:12; 3:19; 11:32; Eph 2:2; Jas 1:27; 4:4; 1 Jn 2:15-17; cf. Jn 12:31; 15:19; 16:22; 17:14; 1 Jn 3:1,13; 5:4-5,19).

The Christian and the “world”

Christians live on planet Earth, scattered in every society. Thus, believers are, in each geneation’s space and times, members of their culture’s own unique expression of the kosmos.
  The Bible’s teaching is that every human culture is warped and twisted by the impact of sin. The perceptions of each generation, the basic desires that move human beings, the injustices institutionalized in every soceity, testify to sin’s warping power.
  The Christian is a member of a new society, a heavenly kingdom, a community called to dispaly on earth a completely different set of values, not based on the cravings, the lusts, or the boastings of sinful humanity. Rather than being squeezed into the world’s mold, we are to be “transformed by the renewing of [our minds]” (Rom. 2:12). Bluntly put, the believer is one who “does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:2).

   If we remember that the world represents the systematic expression of human sin in human cultures,we understand why the believer is not to be of the world, though he is in it (John 17:14-18). We are members of our society, yet the values we display and the structures we create in church and home and occupation are to be destinctively Christian.
   This understanding helps us sense the deadliness of worldliness. Worldliness is not a matter of engaging in those practices that some question. It is unthinkingly adopting the perspectives, values and attitudes of our culture, without bringing htem under the judgment of God’s Word. It is carrying on our lives as if we did not know Jesus.
   [adapted from my , Zondervan]

Coming next: A surprising look at Worldliness. . . in Jesus’ own words.

Scottland Too?

Since 2004 the Church of Scotlad has been moving toward recognizing that exorcism can be effetive in delivering people from demonic possession.
  
A committee of 15 composed of ministers and psychiatrists called the “Deliverande Group” has been seeking to establish guidelines for ministers who deal with people who think they are demon possessed. As part their process the committee surveyed a thousand ministers and chaplains. They discovered that nine of ten prision chaplians had been asked to help someone who thought he was possessed, seven out of ten mental health chaplains had been asked for help, and that six out of ten parish pasters had been asked for help with demon possession.

The committee’s efforts to develop guidelines have met with mixed reactions. Those in the ministry who believe that demons exist and can influence people were supportive of the effort. On the other hand, those who believed that demons and Satan have no objective reality were concerned that the “deliverance group’ efforts were likely to “disturb” those with mental illnesses and to undermine confidence in mental health professionals.

While exorcisms are carried out in the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Scottish Episcopal Church they are rare. Only the Roman Catholic Church has a specific rite of exorcism. And in Catholic and Anglical churches, only authorized exorcists are supposed to conduct exorcisms.

Spiritual Warfare: an introduction

I recently spoke with a pastor in Florida and asked him if he ever counseled people who were troubled by demons. He sounded, well, embarassed by my question.

“I do counsel on spiritual warfare,” he told me. “But my folks struggle with the world and the flesh, not the devil.”

His response ia typical of a majority of evangelical pastors. They understand from Scripture that Christians are involved in a spiritual struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. But most tend to discount, or disregard, the third enemy –the devil.

There’s another problem too. I’ve been going to one church or another for all of my 77 years, and I really can’t remember being taught about spiritual warfare in any of them. Yet this is a theme that’s clearly developed in the New Testament; a theme Paul mentions often, and a theme that’s well illustrated in biblical literature beyond Paul’s epistles. So in the next weeks I’ll be including a number of articles on spiritual warfare on this blog.

What is spiritual warfare

We all live with pressures that would turn us aside from God’s will. The New Testament indicates that these pressures come from three primary sources: the world, the flesh, and the devil. The Christian is called to recognize the nature of the pressures from each source and, to use Paul’s terminology, to “struggle” against each so that our lives might be lived in harmony with God’s will and for his glory.

Several things are essential if a Christian to conduct successful spiritual warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

1. We must understand the essential natures of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
2. We must recognize the source of attacks [pressures] as we experience them.
3. We must know how to fight against attacks from each source.
4. We must understand and use the resources God has provided.
5. We must commit to making war.

In future articles I’ll provide information you need to conduct successful spiritual warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

A word about “warfare”

I suspect that the idea of “spiritual warfare” might not be too popular these days. Too often “war” is considered an evil in and of itself. We see it in the mantra of the 70’s, “make love, not war.” We see it in the vitrolic reaction against President Bush and the drive to deny the presidency some of the tools needed to fight the “war on terror.” We even see it in the protests against Israel’s response to thousands of rockets aimed at Israeli civilians by Hamas from Gaza. What seems to some to be the problem is not the attacks on the US or Israel by an implacably hostile enemy, but the response to those attacks by the victims. Somehow many people have the notion that when under attack by enemies dedicated to our destruction the appropriate response is to do nothing. Or to confess supposed culpability and whimper, “We deserve it.” Because “making war,” no matter what the provocation, is at best an “overreaction” and at worst “criminal.”

Over time as this view is reflected again and again in the media a shift takes place in the culture. We forget events like 9/11 or the rain of rockets on Israel that reveals the hatred of an enemy committed to destruction, and we begin to feel guilty about our response! And so “warfare” in itself gradually takes on an aura of evil.

Our enemies

However we might disagree over our response to human enemies, there’s no doubt that in the spiritual realm the world, the flesh, and the devil are enemies that seek to ruin our Christian walk and make us both unproductive spiritually and miserable. Each is an enemy that attacks us constantly, on a broad range of fronts. When the Bible adopts the language of warfare to describe our spiritual struggles, it does so consciously and appropriately. World, flesh, and devil are at war against us. And we are to respond proactively, and go to war with each of them.

While each of these enemies of ours is distinct, and has its own nature and characteristics, Satan and his demons understand the world and the flesh better than we do. They manipulate each to cause believers’ spiritual downfall. So while we’ll look at the world and the flesh as separate from the devil, we need to keep in mind the fact that the devil works through each to neutralize and defeat us, preventing us from becoming the persons we can be in Christ, and keeping us from fulfilling God’s purposes in our lives.

So, without further introduction, we’ll beginto explore the theme of spiritual warfare later this week with an examination of our first enemy, “the world.”

The Invisible War

Several years ago I began writing a series of novels on the Invisible War, the hidden struggle between God and Satan, angels and demons, that has such an impact on human experience. I finished all six novels in the series and then began looking for a publisher. Well, the publication date for the first of the novels to be released has now been set, April 7 of this year. Two more of the novels will follow several months later

The novels have a simple but singular purpose: to explore through fiction the influence of angels and demons on individuals and on human history, from Creation to the end of time. It’s been a challenging but fun process, especially telling stories that faithfully illuminate the wiles and strategies of the demonic while keeping true to what Scripture reveals–and yet are stories that are essentially entertainment.

In the first of these books to be published, actually the third in the series, a young boy blinded during the Babylonian invasion of Judah in 586 B.C. struggles with bitterness at God’s apparent unfairness. Decades later he’s called to be a prophet and is shown events that help him understand the roots of Satan’s attacks on his people and God’s faithfulness. In the process he recovers his lost trust in God’s love . . .and discovers that he has an important role in carrying the Invisible War to the enemy.

The novel not only reveals how Satan has attacked God’s ancient people–and still attacks them–but also reveals the often unrecognized resources the Lord provides to overcome those attacks.

The first of the novels, to be released later this year, takes us back to the beginning, to the creation and fall of angels and to the creation of human beings. Two protagoists–an angel, Gorel, and a demon, Myrdebaal–who are active in each of the novels–observe the first pair. The angel seeks to understand what God intends for these strange human creatures, and the other to uncover their vulnerabilities. As the novel unfolds we’re taken into an alternative future, where the human race remains unfallen, and then back to the real world, to see how Adam’s and Eve’s choice corrupted them and left them and their offspring vulnerable to the wiles of the Evil One.

The second of the novels, also for release later this year, develops a theme found in the Old Testament, that that the gods and goddesses humans invented were actually facades through whom demons controled human experience. The significance of this fact and its impact on human history is shown through stories that trace events through Adam’ and Eve’s offspring up to the Genesis Flood. The stories also implictly lay the foundation for the Christian’s conviction that even today the gods others worship are real . . .but demonic.

I’ll stop describing the books now, except to note that the fourth book looks a the activities of demons during Christ’s life on earth, the fifth explores how demons operate in our own day, and the sixth looks ahead to explore the role and the fate of Satan and his hordes as described in prophecies concerning history’s end.

To me, while I’ve written other books on the subject, such as Every Good and Evil Angel in the Bible (Nelson), republished as Every Angel in the Bible, the story-telling approach gives an immediacy and interest . . . and stiumulates thinking . . . far better than exposition.

As I noted, it was writing these books that led me to launch demondope. What I intend for demondope is to alert folks to the reality of demonic activity in our own day, to teach about the strategies of demons, and to equip believers for that aspect of Spiritual Warfare which relates to Satan’s continuing war against us as God’s people.

As for the books . . . The Blind the Prophet is currently being printed. It’s available now at Tate Publishing’s online bookstore, and will be available [at a cut rate] on Amazon on April 7.
But I have a very special offer I’ll be making to registered users of Demondope in the middle of March, that can get you a FREE book.

If you can’t wait, visit Tate Publishing’s bookstore on the Web. But if you like things free–and who wouldn’t in this economy?–wait unil mid-March for my free offer. Or . . .buy one now, and when you’ve read it give it away and replace it with the free copy,

This is the first fiction of the over 200 books I’ve written, and I look forward to hearing whether you enjoy it.